If you were so excited to finally have a peaceful night's sleep with your dreamcatcher hanging above your bed to work its magic, only to be disappointed by waking up from another bad dream… you are not alone!
There’s nothing worse than thinking you've found a solution to your nightmares, only to wake up after experiencing a bad dream again. Or having your bad dreams come back after you’ve had your dreamcatcher for a while.
Dreamcatchers are primarily used for helping us sleep soundly, by ‘catching any of the bad dreams’ before they reach our heads as we’re sleeping. Typically, dreamcatchers are hung over your bed to act as a sort of protection. They’re made with a handmade willow hoop that includes a woven net or web, and it can sometimes be decorated with feathers and beads. They’re becoming more and more popular, but there’s still a lot that people don’t know about them.
For example, did you know that your dreamcatcher should be smudged from time to time? I bet you didn’t!
Many people find comfort in hanging dreamcatchers above their beds, above their child’s crib, or even in their car. This traditional teaching was passed down throughout the Ojibwe tribes and eventually adopted by many other tribes, cultures, and nations. The dreamcatchers became widely accepted by Indigenous people between the 1960s-1970s, and has been a mainstay of our culture ever since.
Let’s get into these 2 important reasons why you should smudge your dreamcatcher if you are still getting bad dreams
The first REASON you should Smudge your Dreamcatcher is to cleanse away any bad dreams
If your dreamcatcher is not successful in keeping your bad dreams away - don’t worry. That doesn’t mean it’s broken or defunct. Much like our own energies, a dreamcatcher’s energy needs to be reset every once in a while.
Smudging the dreamcatcher is a way to sacredly bless it and allow it to work in the way that it should, encouraging you to only remember the good dreams that you have.
Smudging your dreamcatcher will breathe life and strength into the object, which can only aid it in warding your bad dreams out of your mind so you can get a peaceful night’s rest.
The second REASON you should Smudge your Dreamcatcher to get rid of negative energy it might have
It’s common for dreamcatchers to get passed down from one person to the next. But what happens when you receive a dreamcatcher and something about it just doesn’t feel right? In many cases, this has to do with the dreamcatcher’s energy being off, or the dreamcatcher holding onto the negative energy of the previous owner.
This also doesn’t mean that you have to get rid of the dreamcatcher. This problem can be solved with a simple smudging session in order to bring the dreamcatcher back to center and allow it to do what it’s meant to do.
Just like smudging can rid a space of its negative energy, it can do the same thing for a dreamcatcher. Practicing this blessing on the object will cleanse it of the darkness that was attached to it and allow it to be clean and bright - so the room that it’s in can feel the same.
Now that you know the reasons behind why smudging a dreamcatcher can be beneficial, it’s time to learn how exactly to go about smudging your dreamcatcher.
How to Smudge your Dreamcatcher
When it comes to smudging your dreamcatcher, all you need is sage, an abalone shell if you have loose leaf sage, the dreamcatcher that needs to be cleansed, and maybe a feather if you have one.
As we point out in many of our smudging videos, whenever you are smudging your house, your personal items, or smudging a group of people, you always want to begin by first smudging yourself so that your mind, body and spirit are cleansed, and radiating positive energy before anything else.
Once you’re done smudging the smudge feather (if you have one, if you don't that's ok), then smudge yourself.
To start smudging your dreamcatcher, waft the smoke produced from your sage around your dreamcatcher.
Take your time and allow the dreamcatcher to be covered in smoke. From there, move around the room, letting the smoke follow you, and allow the sage to cleanse the room.
You might be able to feel the effects of this process instantly, as the smoke blesses the dreamcatcher and wards off the negative energy or bad dreams that it was plagued with.
If not instantly, then wait until that night to go to sleep - you’ll definitely be feeling more restful in the morning after a peaceful night being guarded by your smudged dreamcatcher.
Great article! I hung a dream catcher in my room above myself and my husband’s bed. I knew it was time to clean it when we couldn’t get any sleep. Had terrible insomnia for a month before I finally guessed our dream catcher was trying to tell me it needed a cleaning. Sure enough, I took it down from the wall to test the theory, and was finally able to get some sleep. Since it was so full, I have it hanging in full sunlight for the day, and will be smudging it with sage tomorrow before hanging it up again.
Great article and very useful information. Thank you!!
I burn incense in my house. Hanging the dreamcatcher over the incense burning will that clean it? Thank you very much looking to get a reply from you.
Namaste
Bob
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